Palla Ákos szerk.: Az Országos Orvostörténeti Könyvtár közleményei 10-11. (Budapest, 1958)

supernatural magical fundament, and this led to the magical period of therapeutics. Meanwhile, however, empiricism and magic figure side by side in therapeutics, and it is just the relation between the two which is characteristic of the therapeutic culture of the people in question. Siegerist evidently considère this state as the starting point of therapeutics, while in our opinion this is a transitory period from primitive empiricism towards later magical-religious therapeutics. During this period we call transitory the relation between empiricism and magic was very favourable in Egypt, since therapeutics preserved their empiric character for very long, without magic atrophying objective therapy. It is under the Ptolemies that magic gains the ascendency and becomes dominant. During the transitory period between empiric and magic therapeutics, however, the overwhelming majority of therapy is empiric, and objective treatment is often found side by side with or behind magic, so that magic often figures simply as a therapeutic adjuvant. In this feature Egyptian medicine essentially differs from all other Eastern civilisations, atnd this is what raises it high above the medical knowledge of neighbouring peoples. Magic soon gains the upper hand in Babylonian medicine, so that in spite of eminent empiric diagnostical knowledge, their therapeutics very soon sunk into therapeutic nihilism, except for a few sporadic medicaments and cases of surgery. Egyptian therapeutics on the other hand offers such observations and knowledge, of which new therapies (Hippocrates, the use of red-hot iron) and theories (Empedocles, the theorem of pneuma) could develop at a later period. But the credit for the first doctrine on lymphatic and blood circulation remains the Old Egyptians due. However naive and speculative this concept may seem in several respects, nothing proves its importance more than the thousands of years man needed before Harley's work contributed to definitely elucidating the nature of blood circulation. This distance in time is a further proof of the greatness of the Old Egyptian concept. I wish to express here my sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. phil. et he. med. Grapow, Member of the Deutsdhe Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, to Professor Dr. F. Boenheim, who graciously assisted me with their advice while I worked at this paper and also during my studytour.